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US 8,099,258 B2Granted
Smart garment
AssigneeApple Inc.
InventorsBrett G. Alten, Robert Edward Borchers
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sensor authenticated to a garment transfers information, either wirelessly or wired, to an external data processing device. Such information includes location information, physiometric data of the individual wearing the garment, garment performance and wear data (when the garment is an athletic shoe, for example). The external data processing device can be portable digital media players that are, in turn, in wireless communication with a server computer or other wireless devices.
Claims16
A method, comprising:
- electronically pairing a garment sensor and a garment by way of a first bi-directional communication link, wherein the garment sensor is physically affixed to the garment;
- tracking garment usage and detecting wear patterns involving the garment using the garment sensor;
- forming a second bi-directional communication link between the garment sensor and an external database;
- sending the tracked garment usage and detected wear patterns to the external database;
- receiving expected useful lifetime information for the garment from the external database, wherein the expected useful lifetime information is based on tracked garment usage and detected wear patterns from a plurality of similar garments;
- and
- alerting a user when the garment reaches its expected useful lifetime, based on the received expected useful lifetime information and on the tracked garment usage.
4 more elements
A system, comprising:
- a garment sensor for sensing garment-related activity;
- a garment electronically paired by way of a first bi-directional communication link to the garment sensor, wherein the garment sensor is physically affixed to the garment;
- and
- an external data processing device in communication with the garment sensor by way of a second bi-directional communication link, wherein garment sensor senses garment wear data and transmits the garment wear data to the external data processing device over the second bi-directional communication link.
1 more element
A method comprising:
- forming a database of garment data having a list of specific garment designs and correlated wear patterns;
- receiving garment wear data including a tag identifier, performance data, and actual wear data from a data processing device associated with a particular garment;
- updating the wear pattern correlated to a specific garment design corresponding to the particular garment based on the received garment wear data;
- receiving a request to download the wear pattern correlated to a specific garment design from a garment sensor affixed to a garment having the specific garment design;
- and
- sending the wear pattern to the garment sensor.
3 more elements
A method performed by an external database comprising:
- receiving garment usage and detected wear patterns from a garment sensor physically affixed to a garment by way of a first bi-directional communication link, wherein the garment and the garment sensor are electronically paired over a second bi-directional link, the garment usage and detected wear patterns being tracked using the garment sensor;
- processing the received garment usage and detected wear patterns to form expected useful lifetime information;
- storing the expected useful lifetime information at the database;
- sending by way of the first bidirectional communication link, at least some of the expected useful lifetime information for the garment from the external database, wherein the expected useful lifetime information is based on garment usage and detected wear patterns from a plurality of similar garments;
- and
- alerting a user of the garment when the garment reaches an expected useful lifetime based on the received expected useful lifetime information and a current tracked garment usage.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.